After reading Granny's comment on someone's blog about being able to dig up potatoes and leave the plant to grow more, I thought I'd give it a try with mine. I was able to find potatoes in three buckets. The forth bucket that didn't have anything in it is also the one that had a plant die in a few weeks back.
Most of the potatoes were crammed in the bottom portion of the buckets, so maybe it's a good thing I pulled these out. I don't know why no potatoes have grown up along the stem of the plants as I covered them.
Just under two pounds. Not bad...
The rest of my CA White garlics were pulled this morning. Including the stems, they came in at 2 pounds, for a grand total of 3 pounds for 2 square feet. These were nice, full sized heads of garlic. Glad I kept them in the ground a few extra weeks. I'll probably replace them with basil (yea, more "random" basil, har).
I didn't think that all of the "bird food" cherries I mentioned yesterday bothered me at all, but at about three in the morning I shot straight up in bed and realized I had to get those cherries off the tree!
The first chance I had this morning, I was out there picking cherries. I didn't use a conventional method, like using a fruit picker, or climbing and picking by hand (although I did climb the tree a little). No, I hacked away at the already gnarly looking, hacked-at cherry tree with DH's twelve foot limb cutter. I can't think of what it's called, but it's the kind that has a pulley system with a rope connected to the blade.
A lot of the fruits fell victim to birds and squirrels...
Right as I was climbing into the tree using a step stool, I noticed these things, Right. Where. My. Hand. Was about to go. EEEWWWW! YUCK! BLEGH! OMGosh! Anyone know what these nasties are?!?! Over weight earwigs??? Bugs really don't bother me--except when I'm not expecting them. These totally freaked me out.
After an hour of work and a little child labor, I yielded 5.5 pounds of cherries!!!
Each week Daphne over at Daphne's Dandelions hosts Harvest Monday. Check out her page to see what other's have been munchin' and crunchin' on this week.
What a treat to have all those cherries! They are one of my favorites, especially in jam.
ReplyDeleteLooks like earwigs on steroids! YUK!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful potatoes. They are so good....just nothing like a freshly dug potato. Unfortunately, I love mine smothered in melted real butter. Great on the lips, bad on the hips.
Do you know, I have never used coriander in anything? I have that big bunch of cilantro blooming in the garden, I guess I should just let it go to seed.
The cherries look fantastic! They're jsut amazing.
ReplyDeleteThat blog Granny posted on was mine. You know, my potatoes didn't grow up the stem either and showed no intent on doing so. I wonder if now that you got the other potatoes off that it will start doing that. I just couldn't get my hands around the potatoes down there to leave the plant in place. I wish now that I'd tried harder, but the plants' leaves were looking rough.
Oh those are definitely earwigs. Some species can get pretty large. Earwigs freak me out. Most bugs don't bother me much.
ReplyDeleteLove the cherry harvest. I really need some fruit right about now. Luckily the farmer's market opens tomorrow and I'll be getting strawberries.
That is a big haul of cherries! And a nice harvest pf potatoes and garlic. I don't have either yet, so I am a bit jealous.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, the microwave potato chips look good! And the cherries too, one of my favorite fruits. Lucky you to have rescued some from the birds. The earwigs seem to be multiplying in my garden this year, yuck, those pincers creep me out.
ReplyDeleteDan~Oh, cherry jam... I've tried 3x's to preserve fruit, and haven't been 100% successful on any of them, so I'm taking the baking route.
ReplyDeleteGranny~Oh yes. Baked potatoes HAVE to be dripping in butter! It's taken a really long time for my coriander to get big enough and start turning brown/dry, so if you don't need the space where the cilantro is, go for it!
Ribbit~Oh yeah! I have so many blogs I read now, sometimes it's hard to remember which is who's and where is whats-it ;-). My potato plants are looking a little sad right now... I don't know if it's because they were blasted with heat this weekend or my digging--or both. We'll see!
Daphne~Earwigs, huh? I didn't know they could get so big! Yum, strawberries... They hit their peak a few weeks ago out here (although I haven't been to the market in a few weeks), and I'm missing them!
ReplyDeleteVillager~You'll have your before you know it, and I'll be saying I'm jealous of your harvests! LOL
Michelle~I've never seen monster earwigs like that before. Still making me cringe! I wonder if there's a relation to the increased moisture and earwig population... I've seen a lot more this year too.
We're going to have to go pick cherries soon, not having a big tree. Your harvest dilemma brings me back to the Harvest Hovercraft I fantasize about. It would be so _useful_.
ReplyDeleteSome potatoes are less stem-setty than others, I think.
So glad the birds saved you some cherries, your harvest looks wonderful. Mmmm...cherry pie...
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, those cherries look awesome!
ReplyDeleteThose are big, fat earwigs. They're hideous.
ReplyDeleteThose bugs are pretty nasty looking!
ReplyDeleteIf we grew cherries at our house, I am afraid they would never make it in the door. The birds would have to fight Daisy for them! She's a mess!
I just made your potato chips!!! We all loved them. We meant to save them for lunch, but they barely made it out of the microwave before we scarfed them all down.
ReplyDeleteFANTASTIC!